Back from the Brink: Syracuse's Scoop Jardine matures on and off the court

Frank Ordoñez / The Post-StandardScoop Jardine is interviewed last month during media day for the Syracuse University men's basketball team. Jardine will move into a starting role this season.

Antonio “Scoop’’ Jardine thought his days at Syracuse University were over.

A female Syracuse University student had charged Jardine and two of his teammates on the Syracuse basketball team with sexual assault.

The incident happened in the fall of 2007 when Jardine, Jonny Flynn and Rick Jackson were just freshmen. A report was filed that November. The case went before a grand jury, which exonerated the three basketball players, but then the university’s own judicial process dragged out until August of 2008.

“Immature. So immature,’’ Jardine, now in his fourth year at SU, said in a recent interview. “So immature that I got myself into some trouble. I saw how you can make one mistake and everything can go down the drain.

“That humbled me really fast.’’

Jardine played under a cloud of self-doubt suspicion during that 2007-08 season. He didn’t help matters; or his public perception, when he used another student’s ID/meal card to purchase food. That earned him a mid-season, two-game suspension.

“I think it woke him up,’’ Jardine’s father, Antonio Sr., said. “It gave him a new outlook on life.’’

The new outlook saved Jardine. His career arc is one of redemption. And it’s only halfway done.

A new Scoop

Jardine remembers those dark times. Even now, the bad memories help him appreciate the good days. And these are very good days for Jardine.

Jardine, a senior academically but a junior in terms of athletic eligibility, will play a crucial role for the Syracuse University basketball team this season.

After earning national recognition as the Sixth-Man of the Year for his play off the bench last season, Jardine will step into the starting lineup when the Orange opens the 2010-11 regular season on Friday against Northern Iowa.

Jardine will direct Syracuse from the point guard position; the Orange’s on-court leader.

“He’s made a complete 180-degree turn,’’ SU assistant coach Mike Hopkins, who Jardine describes as his Syracuse father-figure, said. “I’ve worked with a lot of guys and seen a lot of guys go through the program, but Scoop’s an amazing story. After his first year, Scoop really bought in and grew up.’’

Dennis Nett / The Post-StandardSyracuse's Scoop Jardine scores on three pointer in second half action against Butler in the Sweet Sixteen in Salt Lake City on March 25.

The transition didn’t take place immediately. In the summer leading up to the university judicial board’s decision, Jardine considered transferring to another school. One potential landing spot was LaSalle University in Jardine’s hometown of Philadelphia.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and Hopkins tried to convince Jardine to stay at Syracuse.

Ultimately, Jardine’s father, who feared that a return to Philly might be detrimental to his overall development, told his son, “You ain’t coming home.’’

Jardine’s father wasn’t abandoning him – “I came right up there. I was there through the whole process for him.’’ – just forcing him to mature.

Jardine came to realize who had his back and which of his so-called friends didn’t.
“I had some people vanish out of my life,’’ he said, “and I saw how things really were.’’

A year without hoops

Jardine received a blessing in disguise when a stress fracture to his left shin forced him to sit out the 2008-09 season.

“It was an opportunity,’’ Jardine said of that season. “I got to find out who I really was as a person without basketball. Just being a student. I took a year to take a step back in order to take two steps forward. It helped me.’’

With Boeheim and Hopkins already in his corner, Jardine found a mentor in former Syracuse center Arinze Onuaku.

“I don’t know if he knows this but I followed his lead,’’ Jardine said. “I’m talking about off the court. I followed him. He helped me become the man I am.’’

Jardine started making changes in his life.

“I changed my diet. I changed my sleeping habits. I changed my friends,’’ he said. “I knew I had to change my life. That was the biggest thing that happened to me the year that I redshirted.’’

As a freshman, Jardine’s body fat was at 16 percent. “That’s an offensive lineman,’’ Hopkins quipped.

Jardine worked with SU trainer Brad Pike and strength coach Ryan Cabiles. His body fat percentage is down to 7.8 percent.

Jardine’s father is even more proud of his son’s work in the classroom.

Jardine said one of the most difficult parts of redshirting was feeling like he wasn’t part of the team. He found a connection to the team in the Scoop and Wes Show; a semi-regular interview with him and then-teammate Wes Johnson with Post-Standard staff writer Donna Ditota.

The interviews, which were filmed and put on the newspaper’s website, highlighted two of the funniest and most out-going players on the team. And since Jardine and Johnson, a transfer from Iowa State, were both sitting out the season, they formed a unique bond.

“It helped me out so much,’’ Jardine said of the Scoop and Wes Show. “It kept me in tune with the season. It gave me a chance to define myself. I was good with the camera. It was something I looked forward to every time. I’m serious. You don’t understand what I was going through having basketball taken away from me. It was a fun show. That really helped me out a lot.’’

Paying it forward

Jardine came back from his redshirt year to play a huge role for the Orange last season.
He combined with forward Kris Joseph to give Syracuse a highly-productive bench duo. Jardine averaged 9.1 points and 4.3 assists, while logging 22.2 minutes per game.

Boeheim said Jardine’s off-court maturation helped his play on the court.

“I think it might’ve helped a little bit,’’ Boeheim said at the Big East’s annual media day. “It’s not the only reason. He’s worked hard. He’s definitely come a long way.’’

Jardine; like Joseph, will go from being a reserve to a starter this season. He will play a key role for the 10th-ranked Orange this year.

“I just want to win more than anything,’’ he said. “I’m trying to get to a Final Four. We went to the Sweet 16 two years in a row. Our goals are bigger than that. If we win, our individual goals will get accomplished.’’

But aside from being a starter, Jardine has become of Syracuse’s team leaders. It’s a role he takes seriously, especially with regards to Dion Waiters, a freshman from Philadelphia who lived with Jardine’s grandmother during his 8th, 9th and 10th grade years.

“I’m teaching him to be a college student,’’ Jardine said. “It’s great to be a role model to someone with that much talent and I can help him to where he wants to be.’’

The most important lesson; however, Jardine’s saves for himself.

“Don’t take nothing for granted,’’ he said, “because it could be gone tomorrow with one bad decision.’’